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Foreign Service

Not an expert on Subaru cam belt jobs? You will be after digesting the info in Dan's new multipart series. This month: A primer on the venerable 2.2-liter pancake four.

Subaru timing belt jobs aren't necessarily difficult. But if you don't have the right information and tools, the task can become your worst nightmare. This month we begin a multipart series with some tips on how to do the job correctly and efficiently-the first time.

We begin our cam belt caper with the venerable 2.2-liter engine, which was used from 1990-99, mostly in the Legacy. This is a noninterference, single overhead-cam engine with a 60,000-mile t-belt replacement interval.

The first thing you should be prepared for on a 2.2 cam belt R&R is one of the last steps-holding the crankshaft steady while tightening the harmonic balancer bolt to 79 ft-lb. Some technicians prefer Subaru Tool No. 4 999 77000 (photo 1 below) or its equivalent to do the job. Other techs simply hold the balancer with a wraparound chain wrench, such as Snap-on's CW24 or its equivalent.

Still another approach is to remove the rubber access plug from the bellhousing, slide a pry bar
into the opening and catch a flywheel tooth with the tip of the bar. This is a two-man job, so have another tech hold the pry bar steady while you torque up the balancer bolt.

Whatever you do, don't take this harmonic balancer bolt for granted. Coat its threads with a medium-strength thread-locking sealer and always torque it to spec. And don't guess at torque with an impact gun. We've seen and heard dozens of horror stories about Subaru balancer bolts that worked loose. In every case, the customer admitted that the timing belt had been replaced recently at another shop.

If the customer is lucky, this fiasco will cost him only a new bolt, woodruff key and/or harmonic balancer. If he's not, he'll also need a new crankshaft because a loose balancer can hog out the keyway in the crank snout real quick!

Always sell a Subaru timing belt job smart, which entails covering several bases. The first one is to package a new water pump and thermostat into the job quote. Like other engines where the t-belt drives the water pump, it's foolish not to change the pump while you're that far into the engine. By the way, the stat housing is built right into the water pump housing.

Sources who service lots of Subarus agree that the idler bearings on the 2.2 (and the 2.5, for that matter) rarely fail. If you hear an rpm-sensitive noise coming from the vicinity of the t-belt, put your stethoscope on the water pump or stat housing first because the pump bearing will get noisy long before an idler will.

Meanwhile, don't forget to check each idler bearing by loading it-applying pressure to it with your fingers-while you spin it. Replace the bearing if it doesn't spin silky smooth.

Anticipate covering another base while doing a Subaru t-belt job-replacing a leaking front crank seal. Edo Guerrero, a Subaru specialist at Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Oregon, told us to be surprised if a 2.2's crank seal isn't leaking. The original seal is black; an updated seal is available, and it's brown. Guerrero and other sources urge readers to install the updated seal during a routine t-belt job because a black seal that's not weeping now is sure to leak later!

Remove the crank sprocket and you'll see this seal, which is pressed into the front of the oil pump assembly. Some
Subaru specialists told me they yank out the old seal with a seal pick, then carefully polish the crank snout with a light lubricant and very fine sandpaper. Next, they lube the crank snout with petroleum jelly or grease and fill the inside of the new brown seal with grease so its garter spring won't pop out. Finally, they patiently slide the new seal over the crank snout and tap it into place in the pump housing.

At Hawthorne Auto Clinic, Guerrero takes the extra step of removing the 2.2's oil pump and retightening the screws that hold the plate on the back of the pump assembly. He mentions he's found several untouched, original equipment oil pumps on which these screws have backed way out!

Arguably, the last base to cover is a tensioner inspection. All 2.2s and earlier 2.5s use a self-contained, horizontal hydraulic belt tensioner (photo 2). Although these tensioners seldom fail, you don't really know one's condition until you visually inspect it. Subaru experts concur that any sign of leakage is immediate grounds for replacing this tensioner. Another would be a high-mileage engine with a slapping t-belt and a tensioner plunger you can compress easily with your fingers. So plan on changing this tensioner if you hear the t-belt slapping or knocking when the car arrives at your shop.

Like any unfamiliar job you tackle, you should have a good shop manual handy. There may be a detailed tensioner leakdown test in the manual, but sources agree that the smartest, safest approach to any suspect tensioner is to replace it. As of press time, this horizontal tensioner costs about 80 bucks. Some shop owners or managers prefer to package the tensioner into every t-belt estimate. Then, if the engine doesn't need it, the customer is pleasantly surprised with a repair bill that's lower than expected.

Incorrect Valve Timing

Subaru specialists say they often see sluggish-running Legacys with low manifold vacuum and no trouble codes stored. The thing these particular cars have in common is that these symptoms all appear after another shop replaces the t-belt. Whenever you see a combination of low vacuum and poor overall performance, check the cam timing. The easiest way to do it on a 2.2 is to bring the timing mark on the harmonic balancer up to 0 on the engine's timing tab mounted on the front cover. Then remove the outer cam belt covers and check the timing marks on the front face of each cam sprocket. These indentations, which we'll discuss in greater detail next time, face the front of the car and must both be pointing straight up. If both cam sprocket marks aren't exactly at 12 o'clock high, the t-belt was installed incorrectly.

Lining up the 2.2's cam timing marks is easy once you identify them. (You'll see close-ups of the marks next month.) The crank sprocket has reluctor teeth on it that trigger the crank angle sensor. The reluctor has a timing mark on it also. No matter what, when that mark is at 12 o'clock, the cam sprocket marks must also be straight up.

Tune in next month for more tips and detailed pictures on Subaru t-belt jobs. See you then, amigos!